First off, the sword needed sharpened. I invested a couple hours with my mill file and sharpening stones putting a razor-sharp edge on it. There was a ton of meat to take off the blade to get it sharp, the edge was about 3mm thick. And this is a pretty hard steel as well, so it was a good bit of work. However, I know it's sharp as hell because I cut myself on it three seperate times. :lol:
Next, the peen. I do not know who peened this sword, but it was the worst peen I had ever seen in my entire life. It appeared as if the tang was a bit too long out of the pommel, so whoever peened it flattened the excess steel into a mushroom with cracks all along the sides. There was just too much metal there. Additionally, the pommel rattled and spun like a wheel when you turned it. Definately not good. So, I ground off the excess metal, repeened tight from red hot, and smoothed up the finish. It looks much better now than it did, and the pommel does not spin any more.
Lastly, I did a wood core scabbard for it. The customer wanted something which went only to the leather-covered ricasso. I constructed the scabbard as I normally would, except on the rear of the scabbard, I left a square cut out which would allow the sword to be inserted up the the ricasso's riser for aesthetics and a nice, tight fit. The scabbard cover is a mix of dark and medium browns to accent the ricasso and grip color on the sword itself. There are 4 risers total on the scabbard, two at the top and two at the bottom to match the grip of the blade. There is no chape on this scabbard, as it is not intended for carrying the blade as much as it is for safely storing it. Large two handers like this did not traditionally have scabbards, so there is no suspension with this package.
An austere, but nice package for a legenday movie sword! :D
